This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2004-16796, filed on Mar. 12, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of remotely controlling a mobile robot, and more particularly, to a remote robot control method using a three-dimensional pointing procedure by which a user can intuitively set a path or a destination point of a robot, and a robot control system using the remote robot control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Robots are largely classified into stationary robots and mobile robots. Generally, industrial robots are stationary and carry out a particular job cycle repeatedly. They are used for factory/machinery automation, resulting in improved work efficiency, higher product quality, and reduced manpower. Industrial robots do things that human beings cannot perform, or things that are not appropriate for human beings to perform such as work in an environment dangerous to human beings.
One the other hand, mobile robots are much more versatile than the stationary industrial robots. Mobile robots may be remotely controlled by a controller and include, for example, cleaning robots and entertaining robots. Such cleaning robots operate by sucking dust or dirt from the floor of a set cleaning zone while moving around in the cleaning zone. When an obstacle appears, the cleaning robot stops temporarily, resets the cleaning zone automatically, and resumes cleaning.
FIG. 1 illustrates an operation of a cleaning robot 100. Referring to FIG. 1, the cleaning robot 100, which includes an infrared sensor, receives a command to clean a zone in a room. The cleaning robot 100 recognizes the zone by communicating with infrared receivers/transmitters 110 and 120. The cleaning robot 100 cleans the zone while recognizing a virtual barrier formed between the infrared receivers/transmitters 110 and 120.
Similarly, a voice or a sound such as a clap is used to command an entertainment robot to move to a position or in a direction desired by a user. Such a command, however, restricts the entertainment robot from moving out of or in a particular zone. Further, a more complicated command can be transmitted to the entertainment robot using a joystick or a mouse. However, in this case, a user has to keep track of the movement of the entertainment robot.
In contrast to the commands discussed above, human beings use simple gestures or sounds to command or convey complicated messages. But, since robots receive commands by recognizing images or voices, they cannot display the same type of natural interactions that occur among human beings.
In this regard, it is required to develop a system capable of recognizing a gesture, that is, a motion of a limb or body frequently used as a communication method among human beings. When the system is embedded in robots, natural interactions between human beings and robots can become a reality, thereby significantly widening the scope of robot applications.
Ongoing studies on robots capable of recognizing human gestures as well as voices are based on advanced recognition technologies. However, an image recognition technology required for recognizing human gestures entails the installation of expensive hardware equipment in a robot. Furthermore, the recognition performance of the robot is limited by its distance from a user and an intensity of illumination. Hence, the image recognition technology is not appropriate for robots used in homes.
Therefore, it is required to develop a system that does not greatly alter the existing structure of a robot and can easily recognize commands expressed by human gestures. When a user commands a robot, including such a system, to move to a zone or along a path, a simple and precise method of controlling the robot is needed.